literature

Pro - I can't be bothered =/

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Meme2Mimi's avatar
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Literature Text

    "Potpourri" she calmly repeated the word, sucking in a slow breath. "P, O, P, O, U, R, R, I? Popourri." A wave of applauses grew in the room, an ovation which swiftly diminished under the heavy silence from the judges table. Her left eye twitched at each passing second it took for him to respond.
    The pronouncer, a grey-haired man, pushed his glasses back with one finger, coughed and then spoke. "Potpourri is spelt P O, T, P O U R R I." The loss washed over her sullen face. It was over. With a small shed of acceptance, and a fizzy disappointment Aliyama bobbled her tiny head up and down, up and down again, all the way back to her seat. It was now his turn. Pushing himself of the plastic wear of the seat, as if to take flight, Alexander took his place on stage. The mic, four judges and a dozen more eyes centred on him.
    "Ubiquity."
    "Ubiquity," he repeated with precise pronunciation. "Can I have the definition please?"
    The small oval spectacles had found there way back down his nose, this time the man didn't bother to push it back into place. Instead his button eyes gazed over the frame. A measly cough pushed out of his mouth and spiritlessly the aged pronouncer proceeded with the request. "The state or capacity of being everywhere, especially at the same time."
    "Ubiquity," Alex paused for thought, his lips parted "Ubiquity, U, B, I, Q, U, I, T, Y Ubiquity." The usual praise filled applause boomed louder than before around the room. A confident grin spread like butter across his face. The sound of many hands slapping against each other echoed all around, a music surely acceptable for a champion.  

    "If, if" the praise continued, decaying at a slow rate. The head judge sat back her eyes glancing over at old Mr Hobble, a most trusted articulator. He glared over his spectacles, hard and cold, with great sternness towards the crowd. Lowering her mouth closer to the microphone, she addressed all who watched. "Can we have silence in the room, please." Slowly but surely, the people quietened. Her warm brown eyes rested on him, Alexander, contestant 201. "If you get this next word right you will be declared the champion." 
    Alex bit his lip, refraining the urge to smile. He nodded. Preceded by a tiresome cough, the pronouncer gave the chosen word. "Procrastination."
    "Procrastination," he repeated with doubt, as if in some way the most easiest of words couldn't possibly be given in a contest such as this. A blank expression dropped upon his face as the realisation set. Procrastination was indeed the word he had to spell. He felt as if the very word had raised a hand to his face, but stopped midway, to lazy to continue. For Alex, to get so far into the contest and at the brink of winning to be given this word, Procrastination, just didn't seem right. His eyes opened doe-wide, his cool expression replaced with another. Alex leaned in closer to the microphone. "Can I have the definition please?"
    Muffled sounds moved throughout the crowd. His persistent cough responded first and then the definition followed, "The action of delaying or postponing something, especially one requiring immediate attention."
    "Procrastination, can I have the land of origin."
    Mr Hobble paused, confused by the request. Not so much the actual request but rather the need for it. Still, pushing his thoughts aside, he proceeded. "Origin of the word, Lat-"
    "May I have the word in a sentence," Alex quickly interjected. The pronouncer rolled his saggy eyes, peered over his frames and stabbed a piercing stare towards Alexander. To which Alex gave his most sincere expression. "The sentence, please," Alex softly pressed.
    "He was smart, however his constant procrastination was often the root of his failures." Alex cupped his hand around his chin and gave a dramatic and weighted sigh. At the same time uneasy murmurs broke throughout the audience.
    "Procrastination, I see. Okay, Procrastination," Alex jogged up and down on the spot, as if to prep for a 5km run. An exchange of bewildered expressions passed across the judges table, and spread among the crowd also. Even Aliyama was broken from her daze of defeat.
    "Procrastination. L, A, Z, Y. Procrastination, another word for Lazy with more syllables."
    The silence of the hall, to Alex, was a grand acclamation, the most worthy kind of applause a true champion desired. The ability to stun an entire crowd into silence by merely illustrating his given word, no other could boast such skill. The cheers fit for a champ rang in his ears, and bright was his smile.
For the Live-Love-Writewriting prompt 'Procrastination'
Hope you enjoy the read and like always feel free to leave comments :)
Comments10
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bauble123's avatar
Hullo, Synergy Partner that you are. I don't think I can use the proper critique thingummy, so I'll critique here, if I'm allowed? (I'm not entirely familiar with the systems of DA) 
There's a couple of tiny wee grammar issues, but to no real matter. Actually there's quite a few grammar mistakes, moving on. But I won't go on about them all, unless you want me to, of course.
I rather liked it though, if all's said and done. The last twist was lovely. The descriptions are lovely, and the tone and pace are just about right.
Now, do you reckon that's the right sort of thing to say in a 'critique'?